Surviving Extreme Anaemia.

Esteves JM, Fernandes J, Oliveira Monteiro P, Almeida M, Nogueira-Silva L, Almeida J
European journal of case reports in internal medicine · 2021 · doi:10.12890/2021_002357 · PMID:33869097 · PMC8046282
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A 54-year-old woman with extreme megaloblastic anaemia due to vitamin B12 deficiency was successfully treated, highlighting the importance of tailored management and adherence in severe nutritional deficiencies.

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This case report describes the successful management of a 54-year-old woman who presented with extreme megaloblastic anaemia, characterized by a critically low haemoglobin level of 1.7 g/dl. The underlying cause was identified as severe vitamin B12 deficiency, and the patient recovered following appropriate treatment without requiring blood transfusion. The authors highlight that while modern transfusion medicine has reduced mortality from anaemia, extreme cases can still be fatal if not recognized and treated promptly. The paper does not explicitly discuss endometriosis or adenomyosis; it was included in the corpus via a keyword match in the upstream search index.

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Abstract

Before the development of transfusion medicine, severe anaemia was an important cause of morbidity and mortality. The discovery of haematopoietic mechanisms and essential nutrients made it possible to easily treat and prevent this condition. Nevertheless, it is often fatal in patients presenting with extreme anaemia (haemoglobin levels <2 g/dl). We report the rare case of a 54-year-old woman who presented with profound megaloblastic anaemia (haemoglobin of 1.7 g/dl) due to vitamin B12 deficiency, and was successfully treated.Learning pointsThe discovery of vitamin B12 in the 20th century led to the successful and easy treatment of thousands of patients with anaemia.Focus on patient adherence to treatment and medical advice is essential in order to manage chronic conditions such as post-gastrectomy nutritional deficiencies.Extreme anaemia is very rare and associated with high mortality; treatment should be tailored to acute or chronic anaemia and in cases where haemodynamic stability is guaranteed, a restrictive blood transfusion strategy should be considered to reduce the risk of complications.
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Keywords

Severe anaemia, vitamin B12, nutritional deficiency

Abstract

Before the development of transfusion medicine, severe anaemia was an important cause of morbidity and mortality. The discovery of haematopoietic mechanisms and essential nutrients made it possible to easily treat and prevent this condition. Nevertheless, it is often fatal in patients presenting with extreme anaemia (haemoglobin levels <2 g/dl). We report the rare case of a 54-year-old woman who presented with profound megaloblastic anaemia (haemoglobin of 1.7 g/dl) due to vitamin B12 deficiency, and was successfully treated.

References

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